We're Not Sleeping, We're Just Dreaming {Geoff Wigington/Waterparks}

5 {he dyed a little on the outside} 5

Ariel

"Crap!" I whisper. I had dropped the bottle of dye on the floor of the tub and my hands were all slimy. "Could you pick that up, dad?" I asked, pointing to the bottle on the side of him. It felt really weird calling him dad. But it seemed to make him happy. He smiled big, almost like he was excited. It was that kind of smile where if you were to tell him something negative and he lost that smile, you'd feel so upset that you ruined his day.

He set his phone down in his lap and bent back, picking the bottle up from the floor of the tub and placing it on the wall. He picked his phone back up and held it tightly.

I grabbed the bottle and held it in one hand. "Thanks Pet-" I stopped myself. I instantly got an image of Taylor. It floated around in my mind and I tried to close my eyes to get rid of it, and eventually it went away. I sighed.

He laughed looking at the wall covered in white glossy tiles. It was the only white piece of anything in this bathroom. Everything else was red. Well, that is a lie. He floor is white, the sink, the counter tops. I guess what i meant was the walls were bright red and the light made everything look red. "What was that?" He asked. 

"What?" 

"The thanks Pet-." he said, wiping his fingers on the towel that was around his neck so his fingers wouldn't stain blue. 

"Oh, I was gonna say thanks Pete." I said, frowning at the thought of Taylor. "Its a thing my friend and I did back in the adoption center. I would say "Thanks Pete" and she would always reply with "No problem Patrick."

"Oh, haha. Is that a reference to Pete Wentz?" He looked back down at his iPhone 4.

"Mhmm" I continued to put the rest of the Manic Panic dye in Dad's hair, scooping some up from the floor of the tub that had fallen out when I dropped the bottle. I went back through his hair with a comb and made sure I got all his roots. "So, you and Grace. What's up with you guys?" I asked.

I looked in the mirror and his eyes went wide. "What do you mean?" He asked.

I set the comb down on the wall of the tub. "Are you two together?"

He nervously laughed and went to scratch his head but I slapped his hand away. "Oh uh. Were just friends." He continued to nervously laugh.

"Must be really good friends, huh. Last night, she fell asleep in your arms on the couch." I stated. His face went all pink and it was adorable. I laughed and he brought his knees up to his chest. 

"Okay, fine! I like her, she likes me. But I was going to wait to ask her out. Plus is going to be weird for her, seeing as you're now my daughter, and if she were my girlfriend, she would have a somewhat daughter? No. That's not correct. I don't know. What?" he panicked. 

"Awsten!!?" Grace called from downstairs. 

"No, shit. I don't want anyone to see yet." He said, his facial expression went from relaxed to that Spongebob meme. I laughed. "Tell her she can see it in a bit when it is done and dried. Please?" he begged. 

"Yeah." I pulled the gloves off and threw them away. I walked out of the bathroom to find Grace. She was in the kitchen, making a smoothie. She must really like smoothies because last night while Geoff was drinking all the beers, she was in the kitchen making fruit smoothies up the yin yang. She drank at least three.  

"Hey dolly! Wheres Awsten?" She asked, pouring the light purple drink into a long plastic bottle. 

I pointed in the direction of the stairs. "I just got done bleaching and putting the dye in. He says he wants to wait til its done for anyone to see." I said, grabbing a banana from the counter. 

"Okay, well can you ask him if I can stay here for a bit? My mom isn't doing too well and my brother was going to stay at my house and take care of her." Grace said, looking down at the floor. Her eyes started to water. 

"Yeah, come with me and you can talk to him through the door. I'm not good at remembering things." I said. I walked to the stairs and she followed behind me.

"Awsey? I have a question." She said. You could hear him say yeah from the tub. (the tub is in a separate part of the bathroom, it has a little room inside for the tub and toilet) "Can I stay here for a bit, maybe a week? Mom isn't doing very well and my brother is gonna stay at the house until she gets a little better."

"Yeah, of course. Anytime!" he exclaimed. "Wait." You could hear his feet squeaking against the floor of the tub as he tried to stand up, but failed. There was a loud thud and a yelp. "Im okay. ImokayImokayImokay." He rushed at he opened the bathroom door, but not all the way. I looked up and he had a plastic bag wrapped around his hair. "If you want, you could bring Fro and Conehead." he smiled wide.

"Really?" Grace asked, sounding surprised. 

"Please!" he squawked , nodding his head really fast. 

I stuck my finger up in the air, catching both of their attentions. "Who is 'Fro' and 'Conehead'?" I asked, looking at Grace.

She smiled. I like her smile a lot. That sounds weird but shes adorable. "You'll see." was all she said. She started walking down the stairs when Dad called her name again.

"Grace, just bring everything you need. You can stay here for as long as you want." He opened the door a little wider.

"I was planning on it." she yelled as I heard the front door close.  

"ARIEL!!!!!" Dad screamed as if he was being stabbed. I ran back to the bathroom to see the door wide open and he was sitting on the toilet seat.

"WHAT!!?" I said, terrifed. But I calmed down once I realized that he was on his phone.

"KESHA JUST TWEETED ME!!!!" He freaked out. He looked up from his phone and I saw tears running down his face. I gave him a confused look. "I WANNA TOUR WITH HER. OH MY GOD. GEOFF AND OTTO HATE ME FOR IT BUT I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!" He smiled and looked at the ceiling.

I walked over to him and punched his arm. "Don't do that! You scared me." I pouted. He looked up at me and his face went from an in love expression to sympathetic.

"I'm really sorry, I just got excited." He pulled me into a hug, him still sitting down.

"Yeah," I laughed. "I can tell."